Infrared heat sources are utilized for product baking, heating, drying, and most significantly, for humidification. Infrared humidification is accomplished without the need of physical contact with the water and the heat source (conduction) or the necessity of hot air to carry heat from the heat source to the product (convection). The heat is transferred via radiant energy waves from an infrared energy source to the water as the radiant energy strikes the surfce, the radiation is absorbed and converted into heat. In turn the water converted to vapor is dispersed.
Infrared heat source lamps do not produce products of combustion, thus the product is not contaminated by hot gases from the lamp; there is no flame and no exhausts.
The infrared lamp heats the product instantaneously and cools relatively fast to reduce the start up and down time. Radiant energy utilized in humidifiers produces a pure water vapor - permitting the water contaminents to settle to the bottom of the container.
Heat lamps of the infrared type are commercially available. They generally are the tungsten filament and of the quartz type. In the tungsten type the infrared energy is radiated from the incandescent filament; whereas in the quartz type the infrared radiation is from the surface. The most used infrared lamps are very thin (pencil diameter) and long. At each end there is a base from which the energization wire protrudes. The physical size of the lamps permits several lamps to be included in a single reflector unit to achieve a high concentration of energy.
In those radiant energy reflector units, the holder (sometimes referred to a mount or support) must provide an ample support, ready access to energization, and be able to withstand the high source temperature (400.degree.F) at the base.
The prior art infrared lamp holders are not designed for back-to-back operation - probably because of the heat sink problems. Also the interconnection of the energization source to the protruding wire of the infrared lamp is not an ideal contact.